Redo #2

So, Saturday morning I told Brad that I thought our coffee table was boring-a little too country-needs some color.
He laughed and knew what was coming next...
another redo.
I painted it a greenish/greyish/bluish and glazed it with walnut. It is hard to see the actual color in the picture. I love the vintage knobs. I think I'll keep it like this for a while. Maybe :)

Furniture Redo

BEFORE

This week I found a storage coffee table on Craigslist.
So... I sent Brad on over to check it out.
He liked it, he paid for it and I painted it the next day.
I think it turned out great. $50.00

AFTER

Our favorite part and the selling point for Brad...
not only does it provide storage space, it folds out into a table.
H i l a r i o u s.
Can't wait to try it out this weekend:
dinner and a board game in front of a movie.
Love it.

Up next:
Craigslist $40
A stand for our television.
I am thinking...dark vintage knobs and a light
greenish/bluish/greyish paint-glazed with walnut stain.
Who knows!?! Can't wait.

This week I celebrated my birthday.
I love my birthday, Brad always makes the day so great. He is the best!
The minute I woke up in the morning, he put a
birthday crown on my head (with blinking lights) and I was the queen for the day.
It was w o n d e r f u l.
That night Brad took me to a great sushi restaurant. My favorite.
We topped the night off with a very delicious dark-chocolate cake with
ganache frosting and chocolate-dipped strawberries.
( my 3 sweet kitchen helpers assisted me in making my cake).
The day could not have been better.

On Thursday I celebrated with a group of amazing ladies!
My good friends took me out to dinner and surprised me
with a Charming Charlie gift card.
LOVE IT!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!


R E C I P E
Dark-Chocolate Cake with Ganache Frosting

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans

1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa (spooned and leveled), plus more for pans

2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar

2 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks, room temperature

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup low-fat buttermilk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans; dust with cocoa, tapping out excess. Line bottom of each pan with a round of parchment paper; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition; beat in chocolate and vanilla. With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture in three parts and buttermilk in two, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
3. Divide batter between prepared pans; smooth tops. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool in pans 15 minutes; run a knife around edge of each pan, and invert cakes onto a wire rack to cool completely.
4. Set a rimmed baking sheet upside down on a work surface. Place one cake on sheet, and spread top with 1/3 of ganache. Place second cake on top, and spread remaining ganache over top and sides of cake. Using two wide metal spatulas, carefully transfer frosted cake to a serving platter.

Ganache

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, bring 2 cups heavy cream, 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon salt to a boil. Remove from heat; add 1 pound bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped, and let stand, without stirring, for 1 minute. Whisk just until combined. Refrigerate, stirring occasionally, until spreadable, about 1 hour.

Happy Birthday Olivia!

Our girls really love the American Girl dolls.
I do too. I enjoy reading about history and have really liked reading the American Girl books with my girls. We check out new books each week from the library. We are so excited to have a store here in Denver. Brad and I took Olivia on a date this weekend to visit the American Girl store and to pick out a doll for her birthday. She picked the Kit Kittredge doll, one of the historical characters in the books that we have been reading. We just finished the book titled, "Happy Birthday, Kit". Olivia has been counting down the days to her birthday and to her trip to the American Girl store. She treasures her new doll! Kit has not left her side.
Saturday we had Oliva's birthday party with her friends and family.
We have fun celebrating birthdays and decided to have a "Sweet Shoppe" this year.
Our little Olivia is SO SWEET. We could not think of a better theme to suit her. :)

Olivia requested a "pinkalicious" cake. When I asked her what she meant by pinkalicious, she said that she wanted a "pink and fluffy cake". I attempted Martha Stewart's pink ruffle cake. Hmm...not quite Martha, but Olivia loved it. We had twelve lovely guests and a plethora of candy. We played Sweet Shoppe Bingo, Candy Land, doughnut drop, colored a birthday cake and made candy necklaces. At the end of the party, everyone filled their gift bags with as many sweet treats as they possibly could! It was a S-W-E-E-T celebration. The kids were adorable.

Olivia and Kit in front of the Sweet Shoppe

A gift from Grandma- Olivia's new chalkboard

She has been busy playing school with her sisters! So fun.

Boulder

This week has been sunny and beautiful...weather in the 50s and high 60s. Fabulous. I love Denver. The girls and I have been outside as much as we possibly can. We have been playing at parks and visiting the Farmers Markets (Denver has a plethora). Yesterday we went to Boulder to try the new Gelato Shop at the Whole Foods Market. We have grown attached to Boulder and try to visit as often as we can. We always spend some time on Pearl Street. It is a popular destination in Boulder and the stage for all sorts of street performers, musicians and artists. There is always something new to see or do on Pearl Street. Yesterday was no exception.

Most interesting street performer of the day- Eli the body contortionist.
Kids were amazed. I wasn't sure what to think, especially when he asked for volunteers and my kids ran to his aid. His plan was to fit 4 kids into a box (two 8 years old, a 5 year old and a 3 year old). I didn't want to ruin his show (he had a large audience) but when I could tell that they could not breath and he was about to shove Ella in for the finale...I had to put a stop to it. Addie was a little embarrassed and claims that her friend Rory (back corner) still had a pocket of air, Ella thanked me for saving her and said, "Mom, let's get out of here!"
I could not agree more.

After our adventures on Pearl Street, we went for a treat at Whole Foods.
The girls are members of the Whole Foods Kids Club. Each store offers different activities, events or classes for the kids each month. In the Boulder market, the kids get to pick out the "healthy snack foods of the month" every time they visit. This month: Satsuma Tangerine, organic gingerbread crackers, and a cheese stick. They were delighted, but we had something a little creamier in mind...
G-E-L-A-T-O

The Boulder market has a new Gelato Shop. I have been so excited to try it.
We ordered a cookies and cream, coconut lime and a vanilla fudge.
I chose the coconut lime. WOW. It was so creamy-so rich. I can't wait to go back.

Y-U-M-M-Y

Happy Birthday Brad!

We are celebrating Brad's birthday this week!
The girls planned a surprise party last night.
Addison took charge of the planning...
Theme: blue balloons and pink butterflies
Activities: dancing to Lion King and Wicked,
Candy Land, Old Maid and pedicures.
Dessert: coconut cream cupcakes
Brad loved it, especially his shimmering butterfly glasses. :)
I am sure the blue balloons were a pleasant surprise.

My favorite part of the party:
Barefoot Contessa Coconut Cream Cupcakes(from Crate&Barrel).
Easy and DELICIOUS.

Sleeping Beauty

We really love musical theatre at our house.

Our girls love to dance and listen to our favorite musicals. For Christmas we bought tickets to a couple of upcoming musicals. Last night we went to Sleeping Beauty with a group of darling little girls(and darling moms). The play was not the same story that the girls were used to, but it was hysterical and very entertaining. I am so excited that Addison and Olivia are getting old enough to love and appreciate performing arts. So much fun!

Zoo and Cupcakes

Yesterday, the girls and I visited a cute little cupcake shop nestled in Denver's historic Park Hill. Our good friends joined us for some very delicious treats. We tried a variety of goodies...the red velvet cupcake being the favorite (I think I had one bite while Ella hurried to eat the rest).
We have heard a lot of great things about this bakery...home of the Denver Cupcake Truck.
WE LOVED IT.

After indulging in cupcakes, we took a trip to the Denver Zoo.
We were so excited to be able to spend the afternoon with the Westhoff kiddos.
Our kids get along so well, we love to get together.
We explored the Zoo all afternoon. We had so much fun!

December

This month has been delightful.
It has been full of sunny days, walks, visits to Santa, parties, family activities, bike rides, laughter, chocolate dipping, Christmas programs, hot chocolate, good friends, playing outside, cupcakes, movies, Christmas lights, projects, gingerbread houses, Christmas music, dates with Brad, and smiles from sweet little Ava.
I love this time of year and I am not ready to see it go!

Ella had a fun surprise from Santa-
She has been very busy cooking in her new little kitchen.

Little girls are so much fun!
I had a couple of sewing projects this year.
Leg warmers.
I wore them when I was their age(can't believe they are back). haha

And aprons for my 3 sweet kitchen helpers.

The girls were busy with their own Christmas projects.
This was their favorite.

They designed, frosted and decorated.

I was impressed. So cute.

• Happy Holidays!

The countdown begins.

The magical month of December is finally here!

SO EXCITED.

Our countdown is under the Christmas tree.

This morning the kiddos opened day #1.

Drum roll...

Sorry kids. The Nuggets tickets are for Mom and Dad. :)

You can eat the candy.

This week we have had "give thanks" cards taped up throughout our home. We decided that whenever we saw one of these colorful reminders, we would say something that we are thankful for or express thanks to someone (not always easy at our house). It was so cute to hear all of the wonderful things that our kids are thankful for. We have SO MUCH to be thankful for! I am extremely thankful for great friends, family and our Faith.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I am so excited to have the kids out of school for a few days. We have been decorating for Christmas while listening to Josh Groban's Ave Maria on repeat. Love it.
This morning we went out for crepes with my friend Celeste and her 3 adorable boys.

We have the best friends. It takes a village right? We have a great one.

Our girls with the darling Hutchison boys.

Loving the Holiday Season

Can't pass up a French bistro.
Crepes- superb!

P.S. I am thankful for delicious food. :)

Our little darling is 3 months old.
She is such a sweetheart!
WE ADORE HER.

Butterfly Pavilion

The Butterfly Pavilion is one of our favorite stops.
It is a lush tropical conservatory with over 1200 butterflies from rainforests all over the world.
It is so much fun, my girls absolutely love to explore and hunt for butterflies. The butterflies are so beautiful and fly right into your space, even land on you. It is quite an experience!

Outside of the conservatory, there are exhibit halls with all sorts of creepy crawlers.
And I mean C R E E P Y!
This month the featured guests are the Arachnids.
The star of the show... the TARANTULA.
Spiders make me nervous, very nervous. Especially big hairy ones!
My girls did not inherit my scare of spiders, they were totally enthralled. :)

Addison holding "Rosie the Tarantula"
She loved it and went back 4 times.
Brave girl.

Ella stuck in a spider's web.

Olivia- a very spooky tarantula.

YIKES! She is hilarious.

Denver Arts Week

Saturday was the kickoff to Denver's annual Arts Week. Arts Week celebrates Denver's arts and cultural scene with free museums, art walks, displays, discounted performing arts, and much more throughout the city. We spent the day at the Denver Art Museum.
A M A Z I N G!
Each gallery hosts a kids art area with so much for the kids to do and learn. We had such a fabulous day, we can not wait to go back!!

King Tut is currently visiting the museum, so there was so much to learn
about Egypt and Egyptology. It was so fascinating!

Ella-so much fun to dress up.

Olivia and Ella on their way to the next gallery.

The best piece of art in the entire museum. :)